Hobby project management - trello

Every Hobby Season I write [or re-use the same] hobby 'To Do List'. I have a couple of apps on my phone to tick off when things are TO DONE! but I've not really been dilligent about it for a few years. Usually I just cross them off on my To Do List blog post and have a showcase. However, I wanted a better representation of projects and their progress and decided to have a look at trello. This is a site [and app] some of my colleagues were using for project management and I thought I'd adapt it for my own nefarious hobby needs.

So I set up my 'board', unfortunately my efforts to embed it directly in the blog have failed but you can view it here: https://trello.com/b/NssOU5zc/40k-list

I have my first list of Things To Do, granted it doesn't match my Hobby Season To Do List, but it's a little more fluid. It's difficult to explain the criteria but these are projects that keep imposing themselves on my consciousness and I had to just acknowledge their existence, even if I'm not actually doing them.

From there I have the Building list, clearly these lists are pretty self descriptive, so obviously these are things being built. Basing is the next stage, which again speaks for itself and then the Painting list. I've tried to colour-code priorities with the most important Green, but you know how I flit from one thing to the next. Again these are mainly guidelines, although I appreciate the irony of going to all this trouble to organise my efforts and then dismissing them, but the hobby is both order and chaos so I'll persevere :)

Finally I have the TO DONE! list, so I can further record what I've completed. A number of my recent blog posts have been trying to reconcile hobby and home life and this isn't a solution to that problem; but when you're constantly thinking about projects and possibly trying to find a way to not spend time hobbying, this is another form of 'methadone' to at last feel like I'm on top of things, even if I'm not actually doing something

Anyway, thought I'd share. I'm sure there are other tools to achieve a similar sort of thing or you too may find this useful.

To Do List 2016/17

Having covered my achievements over the past season it's now that I look forward to the new Season. Initially I want to crack on with some of the things I couldn't quite finish off in time. They're mainly Dark Angels, they're still my focus despite those Genestealers creeping into the mix at the end there. Anything in bold is a priority, everything else is nice to have

1. Dark Angel - Land Speeder Typhoons
2. Imperial Knight - Paladin
3. Dark Angel - Bastion and Quad Gun
4. Dark Angel - Deathwing Knights
5. Dark Angel - Ravenwing Knights
6. Dark Angel - Ravenwing Bikes
7. Dark Angel - Drop Pod [this is less of a priority but I want it finished]
8. Deathwatch marines

The top three are to add to my Armies on Parade board, hence their priority status, although I supposed everything else is also valid. The remaining nid and terrain based items are these:

1. Project Z?! Still a mystery project ;)
2. Genestealer Cultists
• 1st/2nd gen hybrids
• Aberrants
• Mining Lasers
• Magus
• Primus
• Patriarch
• 3rd/4th gen hybrids
• Familiars
3. Tyranid Void Shield Generator
4. Some bits of Imperial terrain I have knocking about
5. Tyranid Bastion Crater
6. Tyranid Promethium Relay Pipes [way down the list only here to remind me I want to do it]

As always things will insert themselves into the mix  as and when the muse takes me. For instance the Aegis Defence Lines are also something I want to do I've not included them above as I've no real aspiration for them above my list but should I fell the urge...

On top of all that I want to undertake what I will be referring to as 'The Great Build'. Usually painting is my priority but particularly over the winter months, when priming can be a pain I want to build and prepare as much of my Grey Tide as possible. Ordinarily I don't work this way, but having built some things last season I want to crack on and have stuff prepared so I've fewer 'blank pages' to start with.

Then on top of The Great Build I want to base, prime and paint the bases so everything is ready to pick up and go when I feel the urge. To this end I'll be introducing a couple of extra stamps for myself just to complicate the system I never wanted to be complicated! These stamps allow me to tick off this element and nto feel guitly they didn't go through to completion as that's not their goal at this point. There's no complete list here but they include

• 4 Tyranid Lictors
• 3 Tyranid Warriors
• 3 Tyranid Shrikes
• Tyranid Trygon
• Ripper Swarms
• 5 Dark Angel Assault Marines
• 5 Dark Angel Veterans/Command Squad
• 10 Dark Angel Macragge Tactical Squad
• Space Hulk Genestealers
• Remaining Deathwing Terminators
• Sanctum Impearialis

So that's me for 2016/17, I'm not sure it looks particularly impressive but I think we may all be a little surprised further down the line ;) All the best for your own efforts this season.

To Do List 2015/16

Lets get straight into it... first and foremost I need to make the transition to my 40k Man Cave. There's been a lot of time spent on that recently and although it's not been miniatures it's directly hobby related so must be part of my list. 

But whats the rest of the plan for 2015/16... well I'd got this sorted out pretty much a fortnight ago and then suddenly I realised I could actually set myself a deadline for some of these. Essentially Blog Wars X is due on November 7th and I have promised to take Dark Angels. I quickly looked at Battlescribe for what I've got and what I can do to make a list I'll be happy with. G.O.D. knows if it's competitive or not but then Blog Wars isn't about that so my initial 6 items [in priority order] are these:

1. A fully functioning Dark Angel force [1850pts] 
2. Dark Angel - Dark Vengeance Tactical Squad
3. Imperial Knight - Cerastus Lancer
4. Dark Angel - Bastion and Quad Gun
5. Dark Angel - objectives
6. Dark Angel - Ravenwing bike squad

Now this will give me a number of interesting items to paint and use. I'll be proxying my Cerastus as a Paladin [because only the Paladin and Wardens are BW legal] and I'll be throwing in the Land Raider Redeemer I traded with PeteB yonks ago. So it'll be a bit of a mixed bag of models and I'm not hopeful on the Ravenwing, I was taking them for their mobility but should that look doubtful I might throw in some more Deathwing, although the points will be tight to do that.

Now, the other items I'd had on my list

1. Dark Angel - Ravenwing Nephilim Jetfighter
2. Imperial Knight - Paladin
3. Dark Angel - Azrael
4. Dark Angel - Land Speeder Typhoons
5. Dark Angel - Drop Pod

I know that's similar to last year but I'm being very specific about a number of things there that I'm committed to completing, although some of them have already been started which will help set immediate deliverable goals. Having a November deadline will get over a quarter of my list done in 80 days so compared to this year everything else I do will be a bonus. I'm hoping to focus on more Dark Angel stuff aside from the above but I am going to add in some Nid projects to mix things up and treat myself  when I've been good.

1. Old One Eye
2. Remaining Genestealers
3. Project Z?! Still a mystery project ;)

I also have a few other jobs that I want to remain on/be added to my list but probably have no intention of doing but the road to hell is paved with good intentions

1. Some bits of Imperial terrain I have knocking about
2. 60mm Dreadnought crater
3. Tyranid Bastion Crater
4. Tyranid Void Shield Generators
5. Tyranid Promethium Relay Pipes
6. Battle for Macragge crashed Aquila Lander [finish off]
7. New Armies on Parade board - Project X? [I'm highly doubtful on this one but the bits are still knocking around] 

 

Once again, this years green stamps of approval [with transparency] if you're joining in and comment below to share your To Do Lists and I'll add them to the community page.

 

And without transparency

 

The 2015/16 Hobby Season starts soon, join me!

The 2015/16 hobby season will be starting soon so for those alumni who joined in last year it might be cool to look back at your lists at what you've achieved , what might have slipped and those lovely unexpected successes that happened despite life getiing in the way and loss of mojo - I speak from experience.

I think from my perspective things started out OK but progress becamse more difficult towards the middle part of the year I didn't even manage to achieve half of my planned goals but that's not a bad thing as I did quite a few other things that I'll cover in a review of my 2014/15 hobby season coming soon. Then, on the 28th August I'll be revising my new plan for the forthcoming season and see what lies ahead of me.

In the mean time I created a new set of Big Green Stamps of Approval, this time I did them as transparent gifs so hopefully they'll look better on whatever blog background you use, However I probably should have done them as .png because I'm not a huge fan of the bitmap edges. Anyway, there's four of them, my onw 'branded' version, a non-branded one and a major and minor project stamp if you're that way inclined to record your achevements. Personally I'm just happy to get something done. I hope you all take part again and hopefully we get a few new participants, they'll all be on my community tab when the dust settles

To Do List 2014/15

How have we done this last year? Well a damn sight better than any other year. If I haven't done everything on my list, and I haven't, it's not for want of doing nothing at all. But I'm getting ahead of myself, lets just get on with what I did from the list:

A Dark Angels tactical squad!!! Actual Dark Angels that were on my To Do List actually got painted! Forget the rest of the achievements, lets not actually there's loads of them, but this is monumental. Brother Cask, my Dreadnought also joined the fight after three years in the fabricatorium and I also got my Dark Vengeance Librarian completed too. So I have a HQ, two troops [if I combat squad the Tacticals] and two Elites in my Dark Angel force [including the already complete AoBR Deathwing squad].

I even managed to get Avro Vulcan to publish the plans to the Vent Tower and finished painting it.

I prepared an extra set of Tyranid defence walls but never got round to learning how to make a mould and cast some spares :(

I also got the Capillary Towers completed and that obviously led onto bigger and better things.

And stop press! - Dark Angels Devastator Squad!

More importantly what of the things not on that list:

• Project Y - The Skyshield Landing Pad
• A whole slew of extra Termagants [and some Spore Mines too!]
• A Tervigon! Something I said I would never paint again and enjoyed doing it too
• The four Horsemen of the Ferron Apocalypse:
  
  • A Lictor
  • A Zoanthrope
  • A Venomthrope
  • A Carnifex, with enough magnetized bits to run it as a Dakkafex, or use those bits on the Great Maw as a Tyrannofex and run the Carnifex as Old One Eye - so many options it was worth the effort.

• 11 Genestealers too!
• A 'not a Pyrovore', where the hell did that come from?
• An Epic Reaver Titan
• 10 Dark Vengeance Chaos Cultists
• All my Print & Play terrain, which I think more than makes up for the lack of progress on the Inqusitorial Vault
• I also finished off the metal Hive Tyrant's spare weapons and wings [a hangover from 2012/13 but still a tick]
• A lickle baby Watcher in the Dark!
• And many, many other bits and pieces that were started this year:
• 10 Dark Vengeance Chaos Cultists converted to Genestealer Cultists
• Dark Angel Aegis Defence Line
• Battle for Macragge crashed Aquila Lander
• Two new Ferron Fire Fir trees
  

Not too shabby, I think I can live with that kind of trade off against planned targets not met. I also won my local Armies on Parade [just missing last years To Do List deadline] and best painted army at the Scythe and Teacup Tournament, Blog Wars 6 and Throne of Skulls [did I mention that], so going 'off piste' wasn't exactly without reward, of which some was actually cold, hard cash!

 

I also managed to overcome a lack of hobby mojo and develop strategies to motivate myself. In particular my Hobby Matrix post task. It may not have set the 40k blogosphere alight but it was a concept I had to get out of my head and down on the blog. It's not a cure-all and there have still been moments of lacklustre motivation in the hobby over the year, but it has helped. Not to mention the many comments left by those faithful followers of the blog, your support has been a massive motivation to keep going and has contributed directly to my most sustained period of hobby activity. Even in those periods where I wasn't feeling productive I was building a model here, magnetizing a model there. It all adds to the end result.

 

So, where do I go now? I'll be still trying to tackle some of my hangovers but I will be mothballing some, putting them away as right now they are not a priority at all

1. Bloodbowl Elves [I only have a little to finish off so they stay, but I need to do a tree man too]
2. Dark Angel - Drop Pod
3. Dark Angel - Land Speeder Typhoons
4. Dark Angel - Dark Vengeance Tactical Squad
5. Dark Angel - Dark Vengeance Deathwing
6. Dark Angel - Chaplain
7. Dark Angel - Azrael
8. Dark Angel - Ravenwing bike squad
9. 60mm Dreadnought crater

But with these new ones added/expanded:

1. Project Z?! Another mystery project ;)
2. Try to get a fully functioning Dark Angel force [1500pts]
3. Battle for Macragge crashed Aquila Lander [finish off]
4. Tyranid Bastion Crater
5. Genestealer Cultists.
6. Armies on Parade board - Project X?
7. Project Ω??!! And yet another mystery project ;)

Mothballed:

1. Complete pot pourri vegetation [and blog posts for that matter!]
2. STC Inquisitorial Vault
3. STC Athena plateau

So a much reduced list, originally when I first started compiling this post there were only six new items but I've since made inroads on both new and old lists so it was only right I think bigger. There are some quick wins alongside some very broad targets and big projects, not to mention the - 'what the flip'? mystery projects Z and Ω [to be revealed after AoP]. No doubt there'll also be many ad-hoc projects added that aren't on the list, as I've done so this year.

Of course my new number 6 is a massive undertaking, one I've been reluctant to get going but clearly something popular amongst those who read the blog. However, as I recently pointed out with our loft conversion going ahead sooner than we thought it means I'll really struggle to fit in doing this, with the garage where I hoped to work being used for storage and access. We'll see how things go, there's a lot involved, it will pay so many dividends, thanks to the modular nature, but still a lot of unfamiliar ground to tread which is always slow going. Fingers crossed I get to do it but it's very much in the balance and home life obviously has to take priority for the immediate future.

Hopefully some of you will join me today at the start of the new 2014/15 hobby season with your own To Do List. Good luck with it, remember it's a guide, not a directive. It gives you something to aspire to and aim for, a simple measure to see if you've succeeded in doing something. When the hobby funk settles in it can help shine light on your malaise. When you're in the zone and painting something 'off-list' who cares, it's something hobby related. Good luck.

I'll be utilising both Big Red Stamps, the 40k Addict one for the items on list and the generic for off list but feel free to use them and if you're taking part put a link in the comments section and I'll make a post up tomorrow with them all in so can see who's game :)

The 2014/15 Hobby Season starts soon, join me!

As I mentioned the other day the 2013/14 'hobby season' is about to come to an end. This is when I look at my 2013/14 To Do List and see what I've done/not done/added etc. I'll review my efforts and plan ahead for the 2014/15 'season', this year it's bigger than ever.

When you've got a blog and you're trying to keep up with it, arbitrary milestones are always useful - followers, page views, actual posts, blog anniversary and for me the annual To Do List. To that end I will no longer be marking my progress with the 'big blue tick', especially as it was the icon for one of the Android apps I use to keep track of my progress. I've put together my own 40kaddict 'red stamp of approval' which will chart my progress through the year.

Now I'm hoping that I'll drag a few of you along with this newly minted blog movement, so on the 28th August you too can plan ahead for the hobby season. Should you feel inclined to do so I made another 'red stamp of approval' that doesn't have my blog address on [although should you wish to use the branded version go right ahead]. Admittedly this is still a bunch of free vectors mashed up into a badge but it'll serve it's purpose.

Every time you complete something on your To Do List you get the red stamp, you also get to do a post on the 28th August to list what you're going to do so for all those people struggling to think what they can put on their fledgling hobby blog, well there are a few posts right there. All you need to do is write that list, it can be as big or as small as you like and you can follow it as religiously or loosely as you wish. I know I get a great deal of satisfaction out of mine and refer back to it regularly. Every time I complete an item I nip back and Strikethrough the item so I know it's complete and bask in the warm glow of self-satisfaction.

Fingers crossed a few of you will join in but don't feel pressured, although if my mate Liam joins in I expect an Armies on Parade board to be in that list somewhere ;) Let me know if you like the idea and will give it a go, hopefully I've given you time enough to think about what your hobby season goals could be and take part.

To Do List 2013/14

Another year and another broken list of promises ;) I've completed/nearly completed around 8 of my 20 items from 2012/13 but I've made serious in-roads into the Bloodbowl Elves, AoBR Tactical Squad and Dreadnought and prepared the 6th Edition stuff. But amongst all of that I did this:

• Winged Hive Tyrant, built and painted
• Magnetised and in progress my original Hive Tyrant to be 2nd Flyrant or Swarmlord
• Inquisitorial Vault template started and in-progress
• Armies on Parade board
• Sculpted a second set of Tyranid Defence lines that need to be finished off
• Continued to add more gaming aids/markers
• Lord of the Rings Moria Goblins - built and painted
• Oh, and made a Tyranid Bastion...

All alongside keeping the blog going, and continuing to game one way or another. These additional 8 tasks can make up for the 'failures' and are a perfect lesson for 'going with the flow'. The 'To Do List' is a guide a focus for when the hobby deserts us, like when I was awaiting the Dark Angel Codex [so no point painting them] I cracked on with the Bloodbowl teams. I ran short of completing the Elves but they'll be waiting for next time. More importantly those achievements above were all items that I was motivated to get done and that fuels the hobby. There's no point forcing yourself to do a task if your hearts not in it, you'll just baulk at it and where's the fun in that. Of course there are times to push on through the hobby funk but not if there's an easier/alternative option.

So what have we for 2013/14. No great promises this time, just the missing elements as standby

1. Bloodbowl Elves
2. AoBR Tactical Squad
3. AoBR Dreadnought
4. Dark Angel Drop Pod
5. Ravenwing bike squad
6. STC Vent tower
7. STC Athena plateau
8. Create Epic building templates
9. 60mm Dreadnought crater
10. Complete pot pourri vegetation [and blog posts for that matter!]

 But with these new ones added/expanded

1. Dark Angel - Devastators
2. Dark Angel - Dark Vengeance Tactical Squad
3. Dark Angel - Chaplain
4. Dark Angel - Librarian
5. Dark Angel - Azrael
6. Tyranid Defence Line
7. Tyranid Capillary Towers
8. Dark Vengeance Chaos Cultists
9. STC Inquisitorial Vault
10. 'Hobby Matrix' blogpost

That should keep me busy, with the 10 new items being the priorities. I need the Dark Angels at a fighting force so I can have an alternative. The 'nids are becoming a bit repetitive in games at the moment so I need variety. Admittedly I'm spicing things up with some new lists thanks to the Tyrant, Bastion and Spore Pods but that will only go so far. That is of course until the new Codex arrives, supposedly in November, when my attitude/focus/task list could change dramatically!

Blog wise I need to update my Battle Reports page. I feel forced into doing less of them, they take a long time and stop me doing painting and modelling. I'm loathe to cut them down as I like having records, particularly when cool things happen and not that I keep score but it would be nice to know my win/loss ratio should I feel inclined to throw away my principles ;) So, the least I can do is make sure my Battle Report page is current, as I think it's predominantly 5th edition battles!

If there's anything you the faithful few would like to see more of, let me know in the comments and I'll try and accommodate that too.

To Do List 2012/13

This time last year I set a 'to do list' lets be honest I haven't completed everything on that list BUT I put 23 items on that list and did nine of them, although I'm pretty sure there weren't 23 on the list when I started and that list doesn't include many items I did outside of the list, bits started and progressed but still to complete but decent progress non-the-less. 

It also doesn't take into account that despite suggesting I step back from the blog to concentrate on the hobby aspect to create content, I've actually posted more than last year and I believe mostly solid content not always filler. I've also actually gamed more too, which means less hobby time and more gaming content to add to the blog, so time is more precious than ever before. The irony is whatever internet tsars are in control during the day means I'm struggling to access blogger during my lunch ;) I've posts scheduled for late September but things may get a little difficult, although I've said that before haven't I!

Which leaves me wanting to take stock of the current To Do List, park some items and create a new list for 2012/13 with some priority items and then perhaps add in some secondaries from 2011 and perhaps include some specific goals for the blog so you can know what to look forward to.

1. Finish Hive Guard
2. Finish Tervigon
3. Create Tyranid bio-defence line and quad gun
4. Finish Ymgarl Genestealers
5. Bloodbowl Elves
6. Bloodbowl Skaven
7. AoBR Tactical Squad
8. AoBR Dreadnought
9. Dark Angel Drop Pod
10. Ravenwing bike squad
11. STC Vent tower
12. STC Athena plateau
13. STC Mercury plateau
14. STC 40k Cathedral tower [via Free Radical Collective]
15. Create Epic building templates
16. Plasma Hatchers Mycetic Spores
17. 60mm Dreadnought crater
18. Complete pot pourri vegetation [and blog posts for that matter!]
19. New 6th edition boxset figures...
20. See 19 cos that'll be a biggy

That's some list in some kind of priority order but I won't hold myself to it, the first ten are the priority and I think they're doable in 12 months, the next four will be a separate entity and they'll come as and when I can spend the time doing them. The blog? Well I'll try to do more Flufftastic, I've quite a few ideas mulling round and they're great in that the more I sit and think the more they feed into other ideas. I have a couple of now cursory book reviews to do as its been a long time since I read them my recollection will be hazy at best. I also need to add in some new 'art of 40k'. Then there's the treasure trove of White Dwarfs I found and I've never even shared my Limited Collectors 6th Edition, that's not turned out to be the typical market investment I thought it'd be...

...and I've got to manage doing all this with my continued playing and battle reports. If there's anything you the faithful few would like to see more of, let me know in the comments and I'll try and accommodate that too.

To Do List 2011/12

I really should get a list of things to do so I know just the scale of the projects still ongoing, so here goes:

• AoBR Tactical Squad
• AoBR Dreadnought
• AoBR Terminators
• Scout Squad
• Ravenwing bike squad
• Dark Angel Drop Pod
• Purity Seal all of my son's Tyranids
• Gloss Varnish all of my son's Tyranids
• Tyranid Prime
• Mycetic Spore
• Paint Vent Tower
• Paint defence platforms x4
• Complete pot pourri vegetation
• Complete future containers
• Complete 40k Cathedral tower
• STC Single story ruin
• STC Hex Defence platforms
• STC Targus Assault Blockade
• STC Vent tower
• STC Athena plateau
• STC Mercury plateau
• STC 40k Cathedral tower
• 60mm Dreadnought crater

Not sure if this includes everything 'on my plate' at the moment but it certainly seems like the bulk of it. Of course I've got a few Rhinos and a Land Raider and any number of marines but these are the target items, although I haven't set a date for any of this to be done by, so don't get your hopes up just yet.

The fact is we are getting a new kitchen in October, which on the plus side may mean we can get a bigger dining table that may support a 6'x4' gaming table but on the down side it'll mean at least two weeks of upheaval which won't allow much chance for hobby stuff. Regardless at least I now have a direction and something I can tick off and you all know what I'll be aiming for and hoping to receive in the form of STCs